Sylvia Plath, one of the most dynamic and well-known authors of poetry and prose of the 20th century, accomplished many things before her untimely death. She is best known for her novel The Bell Jar and for her ability to draw readers in with her playful use of alliteration and rhyme when dealing with tough topics, such as suicide and the human terror of dying. Her literary work was greatly influenced by her personal life, which earned her numerous awards and criticism for her writings. Born on October 27, 1932 in Boston, Massachusetts, Sylvia was the eldest daughter of Otto and Aurelia Plath (Perini, p. 241; “Sylvia Plath”). His father was a German immigrant and professor at Boston University while his mother was an Austrian-American high school teacher (Davidson, p. 665). Together, they lived in Jamaica, Massachusetts, a town just outside Boston, before the birth of her brother, Warren, in 1935. They moved to Winthrop, Massachusetts, where Sylvia lived a fairly happy childhood until the death of her father, Otto, when he was eight years old (Perini, page 241). Losing his father a...